


Hello From the Other Side

by littlepinkbow



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Crush, Bad Puns, First Kiss, Future Fic, M/M, Music, Nervous Louis, Nervous Zayn, Post-Zayn One Direction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-04 15:45:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5339639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlepinkbow/pseuds/littlepinkbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis never really let go. But then again, it seems Zayn never let go either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hello From the Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this!
> 
> Thanks to Adele for the song title and massive thank you to Keely for always listening to me ramble and helping me remember everything when I forget it!

When you wake up in the morning and your best friend is gone it leaves a lot of holes in the story line or that’s what Louis thinks anyway. He knew Zayn wasn’t happy, they all knew Zayn wasn’t happy and as it is, when someone’s already on a downward spiral, they don’t do much, if anything, to stop themselves. All of that being said, each of the boys were left in a different state of shock when they woke up and Zayn was gone -- it was almost like they’d woken up in a different universe and Zayn hadn’t ever existed. That was, until they stepped out of their hotel rooms, looked at their phones or even existed in this universe for a split second. 

Louis watched the other three boys, he watched the way they dealt with it, Harry was quiet and insightful about it, which was really no surprise to Louis. Liam was hurt and maybe that was expected to, Liam had always had a fierce bond with each of the boys and Zayn was no exception. Then there was Niall, who everyone seemed to think didn’t even notice Zayn was gone and that’s what bothered Louis the most. Sure, he was the same cheeky lad on stage every night, but behind the scenes he saw the sadness in Niall and maybe, it was just best that he was able to control that, to keep people from seeing what he was really feeling. It was easiest to spend his time looking at the other boys, instead of reflecting upon himself and how he felt. His dressing room went from a room for two to a room for one; it wasn’t that there was anything going on with him and Zayn - there wasn’t - but they both liked to have a smoke before the show and it was easier to share a room for that. His bus nights were quieter, his hidden nights out to have drinks and talk about the future were gone and he wanted nothing to do with talking about it. He was fine. The band was fine. Everything was fine. 

“If you would just talk to me about it,” Liam said, locking his phone and dropping it down to the couch as he set what in an episode of a crime programme would have been called a murderous glare on Louis. 

“There isn’t anything to talk about.” Louis’ face was tight and his fingers were balled into fists at his sides. He knew he should have let himself blow off steam on Twitter, but when he saw Zayn’s reply he didn’t regret it, not at all. 

“The two of you are acting like children.” Liam sighed, “And it’s just that like the rest of us are trying to deal with this too and you’re making it really difficult. I know that you miss him.” Liam was trying, he was really trying to help Louis. 

“I don’t miss him. And I don’t care.” Louis snapped and Liam knew full and well just that the conversation was over. Louis wanted nothing more than to not think about Zayn, so if he spent the next two hours deleting every photo he had with Zayn on his phone and following up by deleting his contact, it was his own business. 

Five years had passed since Zayn left the band and while Louis never admitted to it, he still wondered about those holes in the story line. He still wondered where they would be if Zayn hadn’t left. Louis hadn’t spoken to Zayn since the Twitter fight, he had wanted to apologise, really, but after waiting three months to cool off he felt a bit ridiculous reaching out for an apology, so he didn’t. 

All of that didn’t mean that Louis didn’t keep up with Zayn, he did. It was hard not to, Zayn was brilliant and his solo career was booming. The One Direction boys had put out another two albums after Made in the AM and toured the world one more time before deciding that it wasn’t the end, but it was the end for now. Each one of them had side projects and interests and they were ready to pursue them. 

For Louis, he spent all of his time writing and producing, coining his own production company ‘28 Productions’ and he loved it. He loved getting to share his work with other people, he loved getting to hear his work on the radio and he loved working with different artists. He wasn’t certain that he loved it more than One Direction, but he did love climbing into his own bed at night. 

Louis knew when he had put the finishing touches on the song he was working on who exactly it was for. He knew and he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it, not yet anyway. 

“You alright?” Harry’s voice was soft when he answered the phone, he sounded well rested and happy and as always, he answered the phone with a tone that made you feel like you’d been on the phone with him for hours. 

“All good me, what about you?” Louis asked and he missed Harry, even if Harry only lived a handful of minutes away from him. 

“Yeah good, I just got back from holiday. Not really a holiday when your life is a holiday is it? I’ve got a few photo shoots this week.” Harry said and the background noises told Louis that Harry was probably in the kitchen - Louis’ stomach growled accordingly. 

“You could you know, get a proper job, you dick.” Louis said, but it was with a laugh in his voice and he exhaled softly, deciding that he would avoid his topic of conversation a bit longer. 

“‘No, Jimmy protested’,” Harry joked back with a laugh before huffing softly when there was a loud noise, “I’ve just dropped a glass canister. Didn’t even break,” Harry reported and he sounded quite pleased with himself. “Anyway, that’s not what you called for, so what’s up?” 

Louis’ mouth went slightly dry and he waited for a beat too long before speaking, “I’ve written a song for Zayn.” The name sounded almost foreign on his lips, having been so long since he’d said it, “I mean, not for him, like a song I want him to perform.” 

“That’s cool, you should call him,” Harry said like it was just that simple. “I mean, I bet he would love to hear from you and he’s been brilliant lately so I’m sure he would be up for the song.” 

“I haven’t spoken to him in five years,” Louis pointed out and if his voice squeaked a bit, neither of them pointed it out. “I think I should just put it up and pretend it never happened. I’m certain he doesn’t want to work with me.” 

“Don’t be so certain of things you haven’t confirmed,” Harry said mysteriously before, “I’ve got to run. I’ve got a few things to get done but I’ll see you next week for our dinner yeah? Don’t cancel again.” 

Louis confirmed that he wouldn’t cancel their dinner before ringing off and deciding that his conversation with Harry really didn’t make him feel any closer to deciding what to do with the song than he felt before he spoke to Harry. 

It had been two weeks and the only thing Louis had done was tell an intern, Lizette, about the song. He wasn’t sure how to go about reaching out to Zayn and so he was just going to ignore it. 

“Mr. Tomlinson,” Lizette said when she popped her head into his office, “Sorry, Louis. I um.” The girls hands tangled together in front of her nervously as she looked at Louis. 

“What is it?” Louis asked, pressing pause on a nearly mixed single and looking up at her. His office wasn’t fancy, really, he’d only rented out an office space to build several studios inside but as it turned out, having the few offices and a meeting space really helped. 

“Well, I don’t want you to be upset at me, but my friend has an internship at RCA. So I sort of talked to her and she talked to someone and well, Zayn wants to come in on Friday to take a look at the song you had written for him.” Lizette’s hands were visibly shaking, Louis was never mean to her, but this, this was above and beyond anything she’d ever done. 

“You what?” Louis said curiously, pushing his laptop closed and nodding towards the chair on the other side of his desk.

“My friend, Hannah, she’s my roommate. We moved out here together. She’s working at RCA. And I just thought I would help.” Lizette started explaining and her cheeks were red, “Please don’t be mad at me. It’s just that like, you guys used to be best friends.” 

Louis moved his hands, his elbows resting on the desk and his hands covering his mouth, mostly until his smile had faded. “You Lizette, are going to go somewhere in this business. I’m not mad at you. Not at all.” Louis said warmly, his hands falling back down onto the desk. 

“I just didn’t want you to be mad if it was something you didn’t want but I thought,” Lizette started, but she shrugged her shoulders and looked at Louis, “I just put it on your calendar before I came in here. So it’s there. I bet it will be brilliant.” She said with a quick nod of her head. 

“Thank you,” Louis said softly, “And I mean it. You will go wherever you want in this business with a mindset like that.” His attention fell back to his laptop and it wasn’t but a moment later that she disappeared from his office and went about her day. 

“‘Azza!” Louis said before Harry could even manage to speak when he answered the phone, which Louis thought, wasn’t all that impressing seeing as Harry really was the slowest speaker in the planet, the universe maybe.  
“Hi Lou, how’s it?” Harry asked, the loud bang of something in the background, he was always up to something and somehow it always ended up being something really loud. 

“Zayn’s coming in. My intern talked to his record label and he’s up for it. Like he’s up for giving it a look so he’s going to come have a listen to the song or whatever.” Louis said, his voice tentative, as if maybe he thought Zayn wouldn’t even turn up. 

“That’s so cool. I hope it goes well. I bet it will, I mean, you guys had always been really good mates it just went a bit -- oh god, Lou. I have to go I,” Harry’s voice went silent and the phone rang off with a loud bang. 

“Wild,” Louis said shaking his head and firing off a text to Harry to tell him to confirm he was still alive when things calmed down. Louis wasn’t sure how Harry could get up to so much while not really getting up to anything at all, but he was extremely talented at it -- it was his lost art, Louis thought. 

Louis had silently played out Friday about one hundred and fifty times in his head. Should he wait at the door for Zayn, should he be in a meeting to keep him waiting a few minutes, should he just leave the song behind and have someone send Zayn his regrets - busy life and all, he wasn’t sure how to approach the situation and he grew increasingly nervous about it. 

“Hi, you must be, well I mean, of course you’re Zayn.” Lizette said, looking up from her desk - set up as the receptionist of the office and her cheeks went slightly red as she stared at Zayn in front of her. 

“I am Zayn yes and you must be…?” Zayn asked curiously, glancing over the girl’s shoulder as if he expected Louis to pop up out of nowhere. 

“I’m Lizette, I’m um, I’m an intern. I,” Lizette paused looking down at the phone on her desk before back at Zayn, “Louis is actually on a call right now. I could show you around a bit and then drop you by his office?” She suggested, pushing herself up from the desk and walking around to hold her hand out to Zayn for him to shake it. 

“That sounds good, then.” Zayn said, giving her hand a shake before glancing around the office. It looked like Louis if a room could look like a person. 

“I think you’ll um,” Lizette said, her eyebrows furrowed, “I think you’ll find a bit of humour in our office here.” She nodded and lead Zayn around a partition and back to the office space. The first two doors she nodded at, “Recording booths here. Think we’ve got someone in at least one here.” She said, her hand on the door gently before she continued on. 

Zayn’s eyes were moving about the space, the eclectic art on the walls and the lighting that was dim enough that his eyes took a moment to adjust from the outside light. 

“This is,” Lizette paused and nodded, pushing a door open, “It’s called the ‘Miso Soup Room,’ it is a mixing room,” She said, pointing up to the sign that said ‘Miso Soup Room’. “Louis always says it’s the place you can throw a bunch of stuff on top and it comes out even better.” 

Zayn smirked, shaking his head and nodding, “I suppose that he wouldn’t be wrong there then, would he.” He said carefully, his fingers curled up at the cuffs of his sweater as he continued to follow behind the girl. 

“Next is the conference room which is well,” Lizette stopped, lifting her hand up to point at the sign that said ‘Malabami Room’. “I don’t really exactly understand but.” Lizette stopped speaking mid-sentence and looked to Zayn. 

Zayn’s eyes went wide at the sign and he brought his hand up to cover his mouth, to muffle a laugh that was threatening to escape his lips, “That’s, well,” Zayn spoke, his voice going soft for a moment before he continued, “That’s something else.” 

Lizette continued one, stopping at a door that was slightly cracked and after peeking inside she pushed the door open to reveal a bedroom, it was small, but it was just that. “This is the uh,” Lizette paused, her eyes going from Zayn to the room before speaking again, “The ‘It’s Been a Long Week Today’ Room,” Lizette smiled at the smile she got from Zayn, “Louis just wants people to feel like they’re home when they’re here. And he’s mentioned how crazy it was for you lot when you recorded…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes were wide as she was looking at Zayn. 

“It was always really crazy recording,” Zayn said thoughtfully, and the almost pained nervous expression he had since he walked into the office was finally fading. 

“Next up is my favourite room and then we will find Louis.” Lizette said happily, clapping her hands together in front of herself silently and linking her fingers together before turning right around a corner to face double doors that were wide open with a massive sign above them. The sign was done in street art style and it simply said ‘Bus 1’. 

“Oh,” Zayn said softly, his eyes focused on the sign before he looked through the doors. It looked like a massive hang out spot with big, comfortable couches and chairs, bean bags, large televisions and a small kitchen area. “Oh,” Zayn’s voice was still soft as he looked around the room and he reached up to scrub his hand over his face before looking down the hall. “Is that Lou’s down there?” 

“Yeah, it is.” Lizette said with a nod and a soft smile in Zayn’s direction. “Certain you can find it on your own, can’t you. If you need anything, I’ll be up front.” She said with a quick nod before excusing herself and heading back down the hallway. 

Zayn stayed still for a moment, turning around to look at the hallway he had just walked down, shaking his head when his eyes passed ‘Bus 1’ again and he exhaled a soft breath, “Fucking ridiculous.” He said softly, before forcing his feet to move, to carry him down the short hallway to Louis’ office. His tension quickly faded into a near fit of laughter when he saw the sign for Louis’ office, ‘Snake Habitat’ followed by ‘Turn Back’ and Zayn reached up to cover his mouth to keep his laugh silent. “This is fucking ridiculous, honestly.” Zayn mumbled to himself, before he stopped in front of Louis’ door, pushing the door open just slightly to look in and look at Louis. 

Louis looked up immediately when he heard the door, Lizette had called and told him that Zayn should be there momentarily. “Mate, come in!” Louis said, pushing his chair back and standing up from it when he laid eyes on Zayn in the doorway. 

Zayn wasn’t sure what he had expected of this moment, he had actually forced himself not to think about it at all because he didn’t want to overthink it. Letting out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding, Zayn stepped inside of Louis’ office and shut the door behind him. He opened his mouth to speak and when nothing came out, he shut his mouth again and kept his eyes on Louis. 

“Alright mate?” Louis asked curiously, stepping around his desk to step closer to Zayn, his fingers twisted together in front of him and his head tipped to the side just slightly as he studied Zayn. 

Zayn nodded, stopping still and looking back towards the hallway before turning back towards Louis, “You’re just as gorgeous as you were the night that I left Hong Kong.” He said and his immediately clapped his hand over his mouth, because while he was planning on speaking the words that came out were anything but what Zayn was planning. 

“I see you’re still just as smooth as you’ve always been,” was the only reply that Louis could manage and his eyes were wide as he watched Zayn. “I, uh, if you want to come down the hallway, we could take a listen to the song. Or whatever.” Louis’ voice was unsure in a way that even he wasn’t used to hearing his own voice. Of course Zayn would be the one to completely flip Louis on his side. 

Zayn shrugged, letting a quiet laugh leave his lips, “Something like that,” he said thoughtfully, nodding and following after Louis. “D’ya mind if I just take the lyrics in with me and give it a go? I gave the lyrics a once over on my way over.” Zayn explained, his eyes focused on the ground as he walked. 

“I don’t mind at all, really, it’s however you’d like to do it,” Louis spoke carefully, opening the door to one of the studios and stepping back as he let Zayn go in in front of him. 

“Thanks,” Zayn said, finishing the now bent up paper from his back pocket and taking a deep breath. “It’s a bit weird to see you.” Zayn swallowed hard and bit down on his bottom lip before looking towards the sound booth.

“Bit weird to see you too,” Louis agreed, pointing towards the soundboard and then heading over to sit in one of the stools. “I’ll get things set and you can just have a go. Like old times.” 

Zayn nodded, slipping his shoes off -- one of his things -- before he walked into the sound booth stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. Not that as a band they had spent much time in actual studios, but the moment still felt rather reminiscent for Zayn.  
Louis nodded, flipping a switch on the track and pressing down to record because there was no way he was going to miss having this recorded. 

Zayn looked down at the paper in his hand, his headphones half on his ears and half off as he cleared his throat quietly. When he heard the music through his headphones, Zayn waited just a moment, just until it felt right before opening his mouth to sing. 

Louis kept his eyes on Zayn, swallowing around his tongue that felt dry and almost foreign in his mouth because, yeah, this song was definitely meant for Zayn. Zayn looked as comfortable as he always had in the booth, the words and notes coming easily to him. 

Zayn let out a breath as he finished the last note, pulling the headphones off and bunching up the paper to shove it into his back pocket before he headed for the door of the sound booth, his bottom lip sucked between his teeth. 

Louis was on his feet and in front of the door as soon as Zayn opened it. He opened his mouth and closed it again before deciding that there was only one way to properly react to Zayn. “Oh, I,” Louis said quietly, surging forward and pressing his lips to Zayn’s, his arms wrapping around Zayn firmly as he pulled him closer. 

Zayn’s eyes closed and he stepped, almost stumbled into Louis but it took him only a moment to find his footing before he was returning the kiss, his arms coming up to rest at Louis’ shoulders gently. 

When Louis finally convinced himself to pull back, it was with wide eyes and pink cheeks and his focus on Zayn, “I’m sorry, I just, you, that was perfect.” Louis was stumbling over his words and his cheeks were going even pinker as he watched Zayn. 

The smirk on Zayn’s face was undeniable and he tipped his head to the side before clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, “I remember when you had a life now. I think it was,” Zayn paused, biting back a laugh, “I think it was right now.” 

Louis’ eyes rolled but he couldn’t help the soft laugh that escaped, “You are such an arse, Zayn Malik. Honestly.” 

“I always did look better with a filter, didn’t I?” Zayn questioned, his eyebrow raising and his smirk spreading over his lips.

And that was it, Louis thought. His smile was wide and his fingers were spread over Zayn’s hips and maybe it just took five years for him to get his best friend back, but that didn’t stop Louis from leaning in to give Zayn another kiss -- he had five years to make up for after all.


End file.
